You want to inspire people, but everybody continues doing their own thing.

Sometimes you want to shout HEY! YOU! LISTEN!!!!

But you’d look like an idiot. And you know it wouldn’t work.

Do you ever wonder how you could sound like a real authority and get people to listen to you? Would you like to know how to turn flaky writing into persuasive content?

Let’s look at 5 simple writing tips to make your content so powerful, that readers listen to your ideas, act on your advice, and buy your products and services.

Ready?

Tip 1: The basis of powerful writing

Flaky writing rambles, rattles, and prattles.

Powerful writing, in contrast, is simple and to the point.

If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself. ~ Albert Einstein

Everyone can string a series of sentences together. Writing a lot is easy. But real authorities peel off redundant layers to get to the core of their message. They ignore irrelevant thoughts. They don’t side-step into interesting information that might be related but that’s not relevant.

Wishy-washy writing lacks focus. It communicates too many different ideas. So, before you start writing, think about your message and how it’ll transform your reader. Cut all rambling and irrelevant thoughts.

Tip 2: The full stop is the most powerful punctuation mark

Long sentences are hard to read. They make your readers tired.

And when readers get tired, their mind wanders off. They stop paying attention to your message.

This undulating sentence contains 36 words:

Writing a lot of content is easy and everyone can string a series of sentences together, but real authorities peel off redundant layers to get to the core of their message and they ignore irrelevant thoughts.

Rather rambling, right?

Now, notice how powerful the same content is when chopped up in 4 sentences:

Everyone can string a series of sentences together. Writing a lot is easy. But real authorities peel off redundant layers to get to the core of their message. They ignore irrelevant thoughts.

Using the full stop more often is the easiest way to add power to your words. Look for long sentences in your content, and chop them up.

Tip 3: Authorities are bossy (in a nice way)

Does power make you think of dictators, bullies, and other dominant personalities?

As Sally Hogshead explains in her book Fascinate, power lives on a spectrum. Power’s gentle side manifests itself in the parental nudge and in the sports coach who motivates you to train harder.

Powerful writing inspires readers to take action. A good sales page, for instance, encourages readers to click and buy. Strong social media updates make people click to read more. And authoritative blog posts motivate readers to implement your tips.

To gently poke readers into action, use the imperative form of a verb. The imperative form is like a command. It can be strong or friendly:

Go now! Be nice! Just do it Sit down, please Pass me the salt, please

For comparison, the following sentences are statements rather than commands. These sentences start with a “subject” (Henneke, you, the cat) and do not use the imperative form:

Henneke wrote another crappy blog post. You’ve been so nice to me. The cat tiptoed over the piano keys, creating a wild cacophony of sounds.

Here’s an example of a wishy-washy call to action, without the imperative form:

If you order today, you’ll receive 10% discount

A bossy call to action uses imperative form:

Order today and receive 10% discount

Using the imperative form in your blog posts is easy, too. Here’s an example of feeble guidance without the imperative form:

In your call-to-actions, you should eliminate the ifs, buts, and maybe’s. You must tell your readers exactly what you expect them to do next, and you can use the imperative form to poke them gently into action.

When using the imperative form, the same guidance becomes bossier, tighter, and more inspirational:

In your calls-to-action, eliminate the ifs, buts, and maybe’s. Tell your readers exactly what you expect them to do next. And use the imperative form to poke them gently into action.

Want to inspire your readers to take action?

Be bossy. Use the imperative form.

Tip 4: Powerful writing is concise and precise

Redundant and filler words undermine the strength of your message, like adding water to wine. Yuck.

Here’s an example of flabby content:

There were actually a lot of copywriters who were competing for the same project.

And this is how you trim the flab:

Many copywriters competed for this project.

Powerful writing is fluff-free. No filler words. No gobbledygook. No exaggerated statements. No water in your wine.

Reader Interactions

Comments

Great advice, Henneke. A good way to check your writing for flab is to enter it into a readability tool such as the Hemingway app (http://www.hemingwayapp.com/). I once read an article by famous copywriter and author Mark M. Ford where he said when hiring writers he looks for writing that scores less than 7.5 on the FK readability scale. If it’s higher than that (roughly 7th grade level) then it’s too complicated and isn’t persuasive.

Word also has an option to check your readability stats. I used to check my stats for each blog post. I like the Hemingway app, but it feels a little too prescriptive. For instance, not every adverb is bad, but the Hemingway app always marks them.

I’d say these tools are useful, but writing is a creative activity, so interpret suggestions with care and follow your gut instinct. Use the stats and suggestions as guidance only.

Hello Henneke, Thanks for an inviting post and learned a lot about being bossy and changing the way I write call-to action to gently remind reader to take action. Your post are extremely helpful when it comes to writing succinctly instead of making sentences long and boring. Thank You, Lori English

Yes, it’s a challenge for all of us. You’ve not seen how much flab I’ve trimmed from this post 😉

And you’re right – it’s definitely becoming easier with practice. I spot the flab quicker, and I also find it easier to know how to deal with it than a couple of years ago. Good to see you again, Bill!

Henneke, This one is a review-it-every-day-before-you-write-a-word. Writing’s best practice found here! “Borrow authority and steal power.” What a creative way to define research and demonstrate its usefullness.

Here is a new wrting analyzer thingie from IBM. Doing their best to inch toward AI. It’s fun to fiddle with it.

Anger and cheerfulness. That is a hoot. I didn’t want to bias you before you tried it. As always you were very generous. I think at this point it is an epic fail. That they could sell this service to anyone as a writing tool is mystifying to me. But, we live in a time when being mystified by technology is certainly the thing to do. And, there is the matter of cost recovery when a new toy gets built. Something tells me this one won’t “scale” as it is said.

Love your “Borrow authority and steal power.” The best way I have ever heard that said. Soooo, if what you do is bossy keep it up. 🙂

For the record this post is —-Social Tone 90% — Agreeable, Conscientious, Open with a tough of analytical, confident with a twist of tentative on the writing end. On the em0tion side it was Cheerful, Negative with a twist of Anger. Big Blue found 1 word it designated as angry. I think I will be waiting on Rev. 200.00

I didn’t dive into the nitty-gritty, but it seemed like they’re only analyzing the tone based on the words used, and don’t consider whether people use questions or the imperative form or long vs short sentences. It seems like they’re missing a trick.

I think the words “cut” and “crappy” were deemed to be angry words. The tool didn’t understand the humorous tone in “Henneke wrote another crappy blog post” 😉

Super helpful post Henneke. My favourites are the full stop and short sentences – I’m loving even one and two word sentences. You’ve reminded me to use the imperative more – seeing your examples it’s a lot more powerful!

The imperative is interesting. You can notice the change of tone. When you include the imperative more often, the content becomes stronger. In contrast, when you include more questions, you sound more engaging. Using them both creates a strong and engaging tone.

Yep, so true. So perhaps it’s not so bad that I spend more time editing than writing a first draft?

I’ve also found that when I do the work (i.e. when I start and keep writing even when I don’t feel inspired), then inspiration will eventually arrive. If I’d wait for inspiration before starting to write, then I’d rarely publish anything! 😉

Thanks for the refresher. I am still starting out on this adventure and I realize I have already forgotten some of the golden rules! Not good. I do recall the advice that your Call To Action should never be in red font. What do you think? The theory being that red is angry and off putting.

As far as I know, the main rule for the color for a call to action is that it must stand out, so it depends on the color scheme of your site. For instance, my color scheme is purple and orange. When I changed the button to join my snackable course from orange to green (so it stands out more), clicks increased. But this doesn’t mean that green is always better. If my site was already mainly green, then it would be better to go for orange or red.

Such an inspiring post! I have noticed that whenever I tell a story, I end up creating a favorite post. Now to get them to realize I’m not doing this just for the stories! I need some way to help them see they are not bedtime stories! Maybe more “bossy” will do the trick? Thanks, dear Henneke, for great instructions and as always, a darling drawing!

What great advice. This post touches on all points to make writing more powerful. Tip #1, I’m a victim of. I don’t make my writing simple enough. I feel as though I have complex sentences from time to time and I need to do a much better job of post-editing to make my writing more simple AND use power words.

I have no trouble writing simple copy that gets to the point quickly. But I do have to make conscious efforts to write shorter sentences. And I’ll now remember to check my calls to action for “bossiness”. 🙂 It makes sense that polite suggestions result in fewer conversions than strong commands.

Henneke, this is absolutely a checklist to use for writing anything – sales page, blog post, tweet… (And, of course, I’ll be using it regularly!)

I know that I can always work on tip #3 – “Authorities are bossy”. If you ask my husband, I’m totally bossy. 😉 But I tend to not be as bossy as I should be when I write. I’ve come to appreciate that people are coming to my blog looking for authoritative advice and help. Not someone to meekly say “maybe you want to try this. It might work.”

Thanks again for the great push to consistently write better. I’ll be sharing this far and wide because it’s that helpful.

Yep, that’s it! People are looking for authoritative advice (and a personal voice).

In my first draft, I tend to write rather meekly, too. I also use phrases like “in my opinion” which are totally unnecessary. You know I’m writing this and that it’s my opinion, don’t you? By adding such phrases, I undermine myself.

Thank you for sharing! 😉

(And yes, husbands should sometimes be treated with a certain bossiness. 😉 )

Yes, I have mixed feeling about this idea that we should write like we speak. Of course, I’m for using everyday language (or even slang) and avoiding gobbledygook so our writing sounds natural. But good writing is a lot more concise than when we speak. My experience is that my first draft sound like written text and I have to edit it so it sounds more conversational and is easier to read. As Elmore Leonard said: “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”

I so agree with all of the above, especially how Jenna Dalton says it. This post is frame-worthy! Your work consistently (and simply) empowers immediately – i.e. gives me a kick in the pants to apply to whatever I’m writing NOW. (Hmm, were those sentences short enough or too flabby? 🙂 ) Love your style, Henneke!

There’s a difference between conversational writing and talking. Writing is a lot more concise than when we talk, so you don’t need to use flabby words. Instead, try eliminating difficult words and use simple words instead. Adding questions can also help. You may find this post I’ve written for Copyblogger useful: https://www.copyblogger.com/how-to-write-conversationally/

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About Henneke

I never saw myself as a writer, but in my early forties, I learned how to write and discovered the joy of writing. Now, I’d like to empower you to find your voice, share your ideas and inspire your audience.Learn how I can help you